Kathmandu/Cricnepal: Region Number VI Baitadi entered into the finals of the Wai Wai U-19 National Cricket Tournament after finishing group winner after winning the must win match here today.
Baitadi defeated the favorites Region Number IV Bhairahawa by two wickets and climbed up to the top spot to book the final berth. While in another match, Region Number VII Janakpur edged Region Number V Nepalgunj by a huge 66 runs.
Baitadi, Bhairahawa and Janakpur shared equal points after the end of the group stage matches. Baitadi did all to finish first with the net run rate of +0.908, Bhaiarahawa who stand second had +0.763 while Janakpur had -0.086. Nepalgunj returned winless.
Bhairahawa who went into bat first at Tribhuwan University Ground, after losing the toss toiled to score 83 runs in 30 overs and lost all wickets in course. Baitadi in reply, chased the target losing eight wickets in just 27.2 overs.
Binod Lama did all the damage to Bhairahawa after he picked up five wickets to tumble the middle and the low order batsman. Binod bowled nine overs and conceded nine runs with three maiden overs. Yagya Man Kumal and Dipendra Airee shared two scalps each while Mahesh Shah grabbed one for Baitadi.
Sabin Ratna Shakya entered as the opening batsman for Bhairahawa to score 15 runs off 22 balls with two fours and a six. Beside, Krishna Sen made 35-ball 11, none of the other batsman made a double digit score. Bhairahawa kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and had to satisfy with the score of 83 where, 25 were awarded as extras.
In reply, Baitadi too had a terrible start. They lost openers cheaply, Surendra Chand and Prem Tamang, both at eight runs. Beside the second and the winning partnership of 20 runs each, no other major contributions did happen. Prem shared 20 runs partnership with Santosh Bhatta for second wicket while for the winning partnership of 20 runs, Binod Lama and Dilip Nath played their part. Santosh made 38-ball 24 with two fours before falling prey to Iklakh Ahmed Warsi while man of the match Binod remained unbeaten at 15 off 31 balls hitting three fours. Rest of the batsman failed to make double digit figure.
Iklakh Ahmed Warsi picked up four wickets while Devendra Somare, Sushan Bhari and Bivek Chaudhary took wicket apiece for Bhairahawa.
In an another match at Engineering Ground, Pulchowk, Janakpur won the toss and elected to bat and later score 155 runs losing all wickets in 31.3 overs. In reply, Nepalgunj was bundled at the score of 89 runs in 23.5 overs.
With the good contribution from the middle order batsman, Janakpur managed a defendable score, where opener Chandan Jha had scored 21 runs off 18 deliveries including four fours. Abisek Jha remained top scorer with 32 runs off 54 balls with a four. Abishek remained unbeaten. Rahul Pratap Singh added 26 runs off 29 balls with two fours while Praash Jha(18), Gopal Singh(13) and Sameer Nepal(11) were some other major contributors.
Amar Singh Rautela grabbed four wickets while Afak Sheikh had two in his account. Puran Singh Khatri and Inamuddin Halwai shared a wicket each.
In reply, Nepalgunj’s batsman could not perform to their best and failed to reach the target. To restrict Nepalgunj to a low score, man of the match Mukesh Jha picked up five wickets, Sameer Nepal picked up two wickets while Gopal Singh, Pradeep Sapkota and Abishek Jha shared a wicket each
Prajwol Shahi top scored with 39-ball 29 including two fours. Afak Sheikh added 21 runs off 23 balls hitting four fours while Siaddhant Raj Shahi scored 16 off 20 balls with two sixes. None of the other, made a double digit score.
Baitadi will now take on group B winner Region Number II Birgunj in the final on Thursday at TU Ground.
